Chapter 115: Finally Triggered

His life profession had advanced to Apprentice Engineer, but he could only craft standard bullets, which offered little help for the time being. He still needed to advance further to become a full-fledged Engineer. Advancing from Apprentice to Engineer required two hundred points of proficiency, which meant exactly two more blueprints would suffice. Zhang Shan had already prepared the Level 2 blueprints and could start whenever he wanted. Of course, not today; he didn't have enough materials for the Wooden Bird and Firecracker, and he might not even have enough to craft them successfully once. He decided to wait until he had stockpiled more; there was no sense in rushing. Besides, it was already late, and he needed to log off and sleep.

He stored the remaining materials and the Primary Incendiary Bomb blueprint in the warehouse, then learned the blueprints for the Wooden Bird and Firecracker. He took a quick glance at the auction house, but the Invincible Slash skill book was still receiving no bids. Was he really being too greedy, or was the price he set too high? Forget it, he thought, he would worry about that later. It was time to log off.

After washing up and getting into bed, Zhang Shan quickly drifted off. In his dreams, the skill book they were auctioning became a sensation, with bidding wars driving the price up to over two hundred million. Then, Boss Wu quit his job, and the two of them bought houses together—villas by the sea—becoming neighbors. They roamed the game together, living out an endless, happy life. The dream was so long that when Zhang Shan woke up the next day, he was still groggy and disoriented. After tidying up and grabbing a quick bite, he logged back into the game.

Since the launch of New World, Zhang Shan had felt a sense of intense pressure, even busier than when he had worked a regular job. Every day, aside from eating and sleeping, he spent all his time in the game. Even though this didn't seem to have any negative effects on his body, something felt wrong; he shouldn't have to push himself this hard. In the future, he decided, he would go for a walk after meals before logging back in, and perhaps set aside time each week to go hiking or something similar. His current pace of life was ridiculous; even a donkey on a production team didn't work as hard as he did.

After logging in, Zhang Shan teleported to the auction house, but the bidding he had been hoping for still hadn't materialized. Perhaps he really had set the price too high. He decided to leave it listed and went off to grind monsters. It took him a great deal of time to reach the Ant Mountain map, where he settled into his usual grinding routine. He had been farming in the Ant Mountain area for many days now, yet he hadn't encountered a single boss. Not even a red-tier boss, let alone an orange-tier one. Perhaps it was because he was only farming near the entrance and hadn't ventured deep into the map, but he didn't mind. He focused on leveling up, determined to reach Level 30 as soon as possible. When he had reached Level 20, the Monster Siege event had been triggered. He wondered if reaching Level 30 would unlock new gameplay features—hopefully, a mount system. He couldn't stand the idea of relying on his own two legs to travel across the game world any longer.

He was still nearly 20 million experience points away from Level 29, and hitting Level 30 would require at least 30 million more. That meant he needed over 50 million experience points to reach Level 30. If he averaged 300,000 experience points per hour, it would take him nearly 200 hours. Even if he grinded for 15 hours a day, it would still take ten days. It was incredibly difficult.

While farming, he browsed the forums and occasionally checked the chat channels, letting time pass quietly. Suddenly, a post on the World Channel caught his eye.

"Holy cow, there's a skill book in the auction house with a starting bid of a hundred million!"

"Damn, where did this greedy shark come from? Just trying to grab attention, right? What kind of book could possibly sell for a hundred million gold?"

"Exactly. The auction house settings in New World are flawed; there should be a listing fee regardless of whether it sells or not. That would effectively combat these greedy profiteers."

"You're overthinking it. If they did that, nobody would dare list anything; you'd lose money if it didn't sell."

"Guys, don't be so quick to flame. I specifically went to the auction house to check. It really is a God-tier skill book. Aside from being a bit pricey, there's nothing wrong with it." The user even attached a screenshot of the Invincible Slash skill book's description.

"Holy crap, what an insane skill. Too bad I'm not a Magic Swordsman; otherwise, I'd consider bleeding out my wallet for it."

"A true whale! The starting bid is already a hundred million, and you're actually considering it?"

"So what if it's a hundred million? A skill book this godly is hard to find even if you want to buy it. Five times damage, and it's an area-of-effect skill—it's super powerful."

"This skill is truly broken. Not only does it have high damage, but it also grants five seconds of invincibility. You could wipe out a whole group of people and walk away in style."

"Exactly, the true meaning of 'killing a group within ten steps and leaving without a trace.' You can show off and still escape. I want it so badly, but I'm not a Magic Swordsman."

"Since the Magic Swordsman has such an OP skill, does that mean other classes have them too?"

"Most classes probably do, but who knows where these books drop?"

"Which big shot listed it? Come out and say something!"

Seeing that people were finally paying attention to his listed skill book, Zhang Shan felt quite happy. As for being called a greedy shark, he didn't care. Besides Boss Wu, who else knew he was the one who listed it? He certainly wasn't going to step forward and admit it; he didn't want the attention. The last time a divine artifact was revealed, it was because of the global announcement and the equipment rankings; otherwise, he would have preferred to stay hidden for a while longer. He preferred to move quietly, like a shadow—get rich without making a scene.

"Damn it, why was the Magic Swordsman's ultimate skill book released so early? I'm playing an Archer, and the official site promised something about 'Star-Falling Arrows,' but all I've got is nothing. I can't beat anyone right now; I have to rely on basic attacks to survive. I don't have a single decent skill."

"That's true. Has anyone found an ultimate skill book for Archers? Share it so we can have a look!"

"Probably not yet. Players haven't even hit Level 30. It's already absurd that one ultimate skill book has appeared; how could there be a second one?"

However, reality struck back quickly. The lucky Archer from the Wind and Cloud Guild showed off his *Starfall Fury* skill quite smugly. It wasn't just the book; the guy had already learned the skill, though he couldn't cast it yet because his mana pool wasn't large enough.

"Holy cow, it actually exists! Jealousy is driving me insane. Forget it, I need to log off and catch my breath."

"The Archer's ultimate is even more ridiculous. The Magic Swordsman's is only five times damage, but the Archer's is ten times! That's way too OP."

"Actually, it's about the same. The Magic Swordsman's ultimate comes with five seconds of invincibility, and five times damage is enough. Unless you're fighting someone particularly tanky, who can take that?"

"Damn, look at you bunch of nobodies arguing about which skill is stronger. Does it even concern you? Hurry up and go grind some monsters, heh."

"Who says it doesn't concern us? Isn't there one currently up for auction? I'm going to go farm some gold right now!"